The Television Ad Failure Scale
The television advertising business has a sobering message for most commercials: you suck. Multiple marketing studies suggest 60% to 80% of all television ads yield negligible performance for brands. This conversion percentage is billions of dollars per year, advertising spend down the drain.
There are several reasons why this has such a high mortality rate. A lot of the commercials are unable to engage people in the first few seconds, do not have a clear message, or a message that does not register with your audience. And ad-blocking technology, streaming services, and changing viewing habits have only made the task more difficult.
Understanding Why TV Ads Fail
Lack of Clear Messaging
Unclear message, TV advertising Flop#1: Poor messaging. One of the main reasons why a very high percentage of TV ads fail is due to the lack of a clear or clean message. Viewers have short attention spans, especially during commercials. If advertisers are attempting to convey too much, or are unclear about their value proposition, then people will soon be bored.
Good TV commercials are hinged on one solid proposition, the idea and its message. Offers that try to show off three different products, features or benefits in 30 seconds end up just confusing and not converts the audience.
Poor Targeting and Timing
TV ads are all about targeting the right person at the right time. A lot of the times, campaigns didn’t work because they were airing out of time slots, or on channels that don’t hit your target demo. For example, a commercial advertising a luxury car during a children’s program probably isn’t going to do well in the way of qualified leads.
Also, as far as timing goes it is extremely important. Ads for coats in July or tax preparation in October are broadcast in less-than-peak purchasing windows.
Weak Creative Execution
It is generally accepted that creative quality plays a very important role in the efficacy of advertising. Ads with low production quality or blurry, inferior video quality often do not inspire confidence in those watching. Professional presentation is the key to television advertising success.
The creative also has to resonate as brand friendly and with target audience preferences. Corporate-style ads are too formal and stuffy, and younger people simply want to feel like they are talking to someone, not a business.
The New World of Video, Synchronized: The End of Passive Viewing?
Rise of Streaming Services
The television industry has changed drastically with a growing number of streaming services. This is in a world where people increasingly consume content via Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other services with limited or no ads. This change has driven the reach of standard TV ads lower.
Streaming platforms also offer users more flexible control and content customization. While traditional television experiences commercial breaks as interruptions, on streaming platforms, users frequently have the option to skip ads or subscribe to an ad-free package.
DVR and Time-Shifting Technology
DVRs enabled people to simply not watch commercials. Research indicates that a large portion of DVR owners skip commercials on the content they watch. This is what has led to the historic TV ads failure rate.
Time-shifting viewing habits also mean that audiences may be watching a program hours or days after it first appeared, often zapping through commercials. This has lead to advertisers rethinking their TV ad strategy.
Second-Screen Behavior
A lot of people have their cellphones, tablets or laptops with them when they watch TV. This multitasking tendency suggests TV content, commercials included, may not be reaching its audience. (universal truth)- 93% of TV adverts do not get my attention.
Measuring Television Advertisement Success
Traditional Metrics vs. Modern Analytics
TV advertising success was historically measured by ratings, reach and frequency. But these measurements don’t necessarily translate to real business results. Today, advertisers must measure more sophisticated metrics, such as brand recall, purchase intent, and sales attribution.
Sophisticated analytics technologies can now help marketers quantify how TV ads get people visiting their websites, buying online and converting as customers. This analytic approach allows them to see which commercials really work, as opposed to which merely attract a large number of eyes.
A/B Testing for TV Commercials
And savvy advertisers today are not A/B testing their TV campaigns. By airing different versions of ads in different markets or time slots, companies can learn which creative approaches work best. Also, this testing tends to lower the percent of television ads that are launched and fail.
HOW TO MAKE EFFECTIVE TV COMMERCIALS
Focus on Emotional Connection
Effective TV ads usually strike a chord with the viewer’s emotions. Great ads are not just about what a product does; they grab you because they’re dealing with something that you believe in or want in your own life. With emotional appeals people are more likely to remember and be convinced by the message compared to appeals based on rational information alone.
Implement Strong Call-to-Actions
Strong ‘call to action’Creating the call to action is a fundamental part of being successful in TV advertising. Viewers should know precisely what to do after they have viewed a commercial. Whether that’s going to a website, calling a phone number, or going to a store, the preferred action step needs to be clear and easy to accomplish.
Leverage Cross-Platform Integration
Contemporary TV advertising is most effective as part of an omnichannel marketing campaign. Commercials should push viewers to internet destinations where they can find out more, make a purchase, or interact with the brand. This cross-platform strategy ensures that investments made in TV advertising support each other to reach a larger audience and generate more exposure.
Invest in Professional Production
Production values matter in TV advertising High production values are an absolute requirement when it comes to TV advertising success. Professional videography and sound design add legitimacy and help earn viewers’ trust. Bad production quality screams to people of the online age that a brand may not be worth paying attention to, or well worth the price of admission.
The Future of Television Advertising
Addressable TV Advertising
Innovations in technology allow for TV advertising to get more targeted. Advertisers can use addressable TV advertising to show different commercials to various households who are tuning into the same program, relying on demographic information and viewing history. Perhaps this precise targeting will help reduce the high failure rate of television ads.
Interactive Television Experiences
Smart TVs and connected devices are helping to foster interactive television advertising. People can go from watching commercials to clicking on them to find out more, to make a purchase, to interact with the brand right through their actual TV. These are experiences people are forced to engage in, compared to the passive viewing of tv etc.
Integration with Social Media
Today’s television commercials will often have some social media driven call-to-action, asking viewers to share or use a hashtag or in a discussion online. This provides an industrializing spin on the ability of television campaigns to stretch past their original air dates.
Making Your TV Ad Spend Work Hard For You
TV advertising can still be an effective form of advertising if done right. Although a large proportion of television advertisements are unsuccessful, it is useful to know why, as this knowledge can influence how marketers develop future advertisements.
All it takes to succeed then is clear message delivery, tightly targeted distribution, great quality creative and a bit of fit with the overall marketing mix. By paying attention to these basic principles, as well as by making efforts to adjust to viewers’ new consumption habits, brands have the opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of their television advertising, and deliver the returns on their marketing spend that they desire.
Understanding why a high percentage of television advertisements fail highlights the importance of effective messaging, which is also crucial when aiming to improve brand awareness through strategic communication.
